Cooler Temps Along the Lake

Wednesday, September 14 - Friday, September 15, 2016
Oswego, New York - Clayton, New York

We enjoyed our nice big, green site in Bouckville, New York

Randy, our GPS, is a real hero on our Wednesday exit from Bouckville. Although I'm "suspicious" of the directions, we take a leap of faith and follow. And she completely bypasses the steep hills into Casanovia, using smaller roads and weird turns to get us to Swamp Road (actually a very good road), heading northwest. 

The rest of the trip is as I had "driven it" on Google Street View, and we arrive at Sunset RV Park in Oswego, New York a little before one o'clock. The driveway looks "iffy" so we come around the back where the owner flags us in. After the neighbor moves his truck, and the owner moves the picnic table we pull into Site 2 right on Hwy 89 - with Lake Ontario 20 yards from our windshield. Beautiful. 

Views like this make us appreciate that big Class A windshield even more. The wind is much stronger than it looks here.

We have FHUs, 30 amp, with good water pressure. Laundry room, showers and restrooms. An ice cream shop across the street is open 2-8 daily. The park includes seasonal sites in the back as well as five cabins with water views. Satellite works fine and the park Wi-Fi works some of the time.

With a big race at the speedway this weekend, and rain threatening, we are only here until Friday morning. 

The full moon sometimes messes with Bill's sleep and Thursday morning he's not feeling great. He stays home while Tessa and I see what we can see in Oswego.

Home to the State University of New York (just blocks from the RV park), Oswego is a nice size town with a comfortable vibe. I like it here.

We walk around the pretty downtown, enjoying the cool weather and lovely old buildings.

City Hall - I have to look it up online, there isn't a single sign on any side.

Beautiful detail

Next door, Police Plaza, has several water features and nice places to sit.

Almost hidden in the shade of a small tree, this memorial marks the signing of the treaty between the English and the Ottawa tribe.

Another interesting building with no signage

until a blurry close up of the lovely window identifies the occupant.

Much of downtown includes large brick structures with wonderful windows.

"The Boarding House"

1860 cupola on the courthouse

From an active downtown, we move to the very quiet historic Fort Oswego. The path leads to the water's edge and the 1906 Post Cemetery. It's a pretty setting with perfect cool breezes, and we spend almost an hour.

Oswego West Harbor Pierhead Lighthouse

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Plant. Sometimes I forget we still have active plants.

Post Cemetery - 77 soldiers, wives and children

The fort grounds look impressive, but as we approach there is a group with five big dogs entering so Tessa and I take a rain check. 

Next stop is the little H. Lee Maritime Museum. Like so many of these smaller, local museums, it is packed with great information and exhibits - lovingly maintained and staffed.

Number 5 of 5, this tug was built for Operation Overload - the invasion of occupied Europe in 1944. Unbelievable when seeing it's size, the LT-5 towed two barges with eight rail cars to Southampton, England. Wow!

Reconstructed captain's cabin. 

A large exhibit on the Civil War battle off the coast of France.....what??

The interesting story.

I love that this 200 year old Birch Bark canoe is included in the maritime history of the area.

The exhibit on lake shipwrecks includes this wheel from the Thomas H which sank on      May 30, 1945. 

Hard to believe these light weight nets pull in hundreds of pounds of fish.

I really enjoy the lighthouse room.

In addition to the LT-5, the last commercial fishing vessel, the Eleanor D, is also maintained here. Built on Lake Erie in 1948, she retired in 1978.

Did this piece age a year after it was named? Local students filled a room with their art.

Small museums rarely take a long time to tour, even when you take your time to read most of what is offered. However, we spend a couple hours at this one.

As we're leaving one of the docents sees Tessa and her eyes fill with tears. She recently lost her own "Casey", and when Tessa snuggles up to her, she is overwhelmed. We spend probably 25 minutes with her talking about the love of dogs. Tessa seems to "get it", and lies down across her feet, gives her lots of kisses, poses for pics she sends to her son. When a bus arrives for a tour, she wipes her eyes and gives us both a final hug. You just never know who you're going to meet, how you're going to impact their day. Having the time to spend with a stranger who needs a fluffy-dog-fix is such a blessing.

Having gotten some sleep, Bill is feeling better. We enjoy clam chowder at Rudy's down the street before the big show begins across the water.

We haven't seen this kind of color since we left the desert - and over the water it is even more spectacular. Some zoom, no editing.

We take our time getting ready Friday morning - turns out to be a bad choice. Even though the Jeep is hooked up and we are scheduled to leave, the guy on the riding lawn mower finds it necessary to mow through our site, flinging grass and dust over everything. Bill tells the two with weed eaters that we'll be out of their way in five minutes so they move next door - I'm so ready to get away from all the noise! 

A very easy - and well-mowed - exit from our site.

What are they doing out there??

Randy tests our faith toward the end of Friday's drive, taking us on a short-cut along a very narrow and crowned country road through the tiny burg of Depeauxville. It is shorter, and we pop out on Hwy 12 where we belong.

Merry Knoll Campground is another park on the lake. Our site is higher up a grassy hill, but we have a beautiful view of the water from our fire ring. FHUs, we opt for 30 amp, but 50 amp is available. Small laundry room and restrooms, there might be showers. Site is level and we have satellite access. The park Wi-Fi is the best we've had in several weeks. A lot of seasonals in the shaded sites and closer to the water, they are all well-maintained. 

I check in with Pam and we make plans for a Saturday of fun along the St. Lawrence Seaway.